Team heads to Lindsay for first game tonight
Sep 04, 2008 - 03:03 PM
By Shawn Cayley
BOWMANVILLE -- The roster is set and the season is about to begin, but the Bowmanville Eagles may not be done tinkering.
Eagles general manager Curtis Hodgins, while satisfied with the defensive makeup of his Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League club, would still like to add a little depth up front after the loss of Brett Mackie, who signed with the OHL's Belleville Bulls, and the potential departure of Dustin Ekelman, who Hodgins expects will ink a card with the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.
"We're likely going to have the same defensive first approach of a year ago, so I like the way we're set up back there," said Hodgins, who added the club is banking on a good year from goaltender Chris Azzano. "Defensively and in net we're set, but as I've said though, I think I'd still like to add a little something up front."
Last season the Eagles scored 135 times in 49 games, and sat tied at fifth from the bottom in the league within that category. They have lost four of their top five leading scorers from a year ago.
While the GM searches for some help, the season will get underway tonight with a trip to Lindsay to face the Muskies.
The Muskies will make a return visit to the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex Sunday for the Eagles' home opener and Hodgins is expecting a much more improved team over the Lindsay squads of recent years.
"Brett Meyers is a good coach and this is his first full year there, so he'll put his stamp on things," said Hodgins, who as a former Eagles coach, forged many a battle with Meyers while the latter was in Port Hope. "He's shown in the past that he can get the best of his players, and I wouldn't expect anything less than a solid hard working team in Lindsay."
Of course, Hodgins wasn't about to sell his own team short after coach Dan West implemented a sound defensive system a year ago, allowing the Eagles to finishing the campaign with a 21-18-10.
The Eagles developed into one of the better defensive teams in the league last year, and with Azzano returning in net, and a blue-line anchored by Ben Parker, Chris Bain, John Bull, Michael Gilchrist and Michael Berney, along with newcomers Dru Douglas and Mitch Bell, much of the same is expected, said Hodgins.
One notable absentee, who had been signed over the summer, is Mark Ramkema. The defender was recently inked to an OHL card by the Owen Sound Attack.
Along with Douglas and Bell on the back end, the Eagles will be integrating six other new faces to the lineup, including second-string goalie Gatlin Burt and forwards Tommy Sumi, Scott Sandercock, Brian Kunetsky and Matt Davis.
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